Open-source software enables code review and reuse, but known vulnerabilities and unmaintained dependencies can create cybersecurity risks.
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Open source is software whose source code is available under a license that permits use, inspection, modification, and redistribution. It may be developed by a community, an organization, or a small group of maintainers; “open” does not guarantee that the code is actively reviewed, supported, or secure.
For security teams, the main concerns are vulnerabilities in dependencies and the software supply chain: a maintainer account, release process, or package can be compromised, while an unmaintained component may retain known flaws. Public code can enable review and faster fixes, but visibility alone is not a control. Maintain an inventory or SBOM of open-source components, pin and verify versions or signatures where possible, monitor vulnerability advisories, and apply updates through a controlled process.
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Ask an AI coding agent to scan open-source code for security holes, and it might run the attacker's code on your own machine instead
Cybersecurity researchers have described what they say is a new class of attack that can trick artificial intelligence (AI) coding agents into running arbitrary code on developer machines